CASD silent majority may prove unreliable in its support (EDITORIAL)

We understand, to an extent, Chambersburg Area School District's response to criticism from district residents in recent years, months, weeks, days.

As a more-than-occasional target for criticism we, too, occasionally feel a temptation to defend sound decisions based on internal information and institutional experience shared by few.

But just as often, if people complain it's because we made a mistake. And at all such times it's better to simply admit the mistake, correct the record and move on.

CASD has a a bit of a public relations problem. It boasts a litany of intensely unpopular decisions stretching back many months. Some - such as the dress code fiasco - were wrongly criticized. Others - such as the school board's rejection of a club for gay students - deserved every last bit of public castigation.

But the best response is not to simply assume that a critical mass of people agree with certain decisions simply because they didn't complain. In our experience, if people don't join the chorus of the allegedly vocal minority, it's more often a sign of apathy than agreement.

The silent majority, in other words, is silent because it can't be bothered to speak up. There will always be a certain number of people who complain just because they like to complain, but more speak up because they care.

They are not people to alienate. Too few people care about what happens in local schools as it is.

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All of which makes the district's plan to fish the silent majority for support another questionable decision, at best. As people with at least a rudimentary understanding of polling, we also know that it's possible to engineer responses from the disengaged simply by wording questions in particular ways.

But we don't think a survey is necessary in the first place. We find it particularly wrong for the district to pay $25,000 to a third party to conduct the operation. In an age of technological wonders, it should be possible for the district to do such a thing with its own resources.

If it has to be done at all.

Frankly, the reason people don't trust their school district is because it seems not to trust their assessment of its performance. Instead of looking to prove them wrong by asking other people who probably don't care, the district should trying to close that gap with outreach based foremost on full disclosure.

Secrecy fosters mistrust.

In the end, a survey won't do much to sway hearts and minds, especially if it's methodology is not disclosed. Very few people will say, "Oh, people whose names I don't know think I'm wrong to be upset about this, so I guess I must be wrong."

Won't happen. In the end, people feel how they feel. If those feelings are based on ignorance, then the district should be dispelling that ignorance with increased openness.

- Matthew Major, opinion editor, can be reached at mmajor@publicopinionnews.com, or find him on Twitter @MattMajorPO.